Does the North-East India need a separate time zone?

“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”

The rationality of implementing a separate time zone for the North-East India and its cause and effects have often been discussed by experts and scholars.A few months ago, the Assam chief minister mentioned that he would like to shift the clocks in Assam one hour ahead of Indian Standard time(IST).

I am in favour of a separate time zone for the North-East.The separate time-zone would increase the efficiency and productivity as greater day-light hours would be optimally utilized.When it is dawn in Gujarat,it is day light in Arunachal.Similarly,when the sun sets in Arunachal Pradesh, it is still daylight in Gujarat. According to a recent survey, separate time zone would cut down on electricity consumption in residences and  factories thus saving energy consumption.

In British India, we used to follow two time-zones:Bombay time and Calcutta time.After Independence,for the sake of maintaining uniformity, India adopted a unique time.popularly known as the Indian Standard Time(IST)(passing through Sankaragarh fort in Allahabad),which was 5.30 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time(GMT).However,sensing the merits of adopting a separate time zone, the tea-estates in Assam follow their own standard time(conventionally known as Bagaan time), which is one hour ahead of IST.

The East-West span of India is about 2900 kms, which is too large to follow a single time zone.The USA, Canada and Russia have adopted multiple time zones. Scholars have raised certain apprehensions stating that India could face certain operational difficulties in areas of railways and aviation. However, in an age where automation has reached new heights, India could seamlessly adopt two time zones.